Riverview Cottage
by Megan Ingram-Jones
Summary: Dean has just escaped purgatory and he and Sam are looking for new cases. When Sam reads about a murder in Riverview, Mississippi, the boys head to check it out. However, what looks like a common haunting, is much more than what meets the eye. Author's note: Yes I made the town up, not very good with actually towns. Takes place in early season 8 before Cas is back from purgatory.
1. Prologue

Riverview Cottage

Prologue

Sam looked up from his laptop. He had been looking for a case all night, but found nothing. Dean had passed out hours ago, but Sam knew it was not long before he would wake himself up from screaming.

It had been hard for Dean since his return from purgatory; never being able to sleep or do pretty much anything. Sam couldn't bear to see his brother like this, but there was nothing he could do. If he tried talking to him, Dean would only get angry and shout at him for not doing anything at all to bring him back. Sam knew he was right; after all, he did leave his brother in purgatory.

What made it worse for Dean was that Sam had found love. Since Jessica, Sam never thought he'd be able to love again, but he did. Amelia was perfect for Sam; she travelled a lot and had a past she never liked talking about. She was perfect and like every perfect thing given to the Winchesters, it was taken away.

He didn't blame Dean, in fact, he was happy he was back. However, it was the second time Dean had torn him apart from the woman he loved and this time, he chose to go. He was never right for Amelia; he would only hurt her or get her killed.

It was five in the morning and the sun had started to rise. It was then that Sam found a case. He looked over at Dean, contemplating whether to wake him up now or to let him sleep. Luckily for Sam, Dean made that decision for him.

Dean jolted upright, sweat dripping down his forehead and his expression bewildered.

"Dude, you okay?" Sam asked, eyebrow raised.

Dean rubbed his forehead and shook his head. "Fine, just a bad dream"

Sam gave a concerned look before returning to his laptop. "I think I found something"

Dean looked up, yawned and made his way to Sam's side. "What is it?"

"A kid was murdered in a little cottage in Mississippi"

"Any others?" Dean's voice sounded gruff and his hair was a mess.

"Yeah, there were five of them together and it's been recurring every year for the past five"

"Where to?" Dean turned and started packing away all their stuff.

Sam gave a small chuckle, "Riverview, Mississippi"

Dean stopped packing and turned to Sam with a frown. "Where?"

"Some small town in Mississippi" Sam closed his laptop and placed it in a small bag.

"Never heard of it"

"Well, you have now, get packing"

Dean threw down the clothes he was holding and turned to Sam. "Dude, what do you think I'm doing?"


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jack stared at the small white cottage in front of him. The cottage had been abandoned for over a hundred years and various bushes surrounded the sides with a few scaling the walls, including ivy.

Jack frowned; was he really going to go through with this?

"Come on, Jack!" Hannah nudged Jack's arm, "You can't turn back now." Jack gulped and smiled at the petit blonde.

"OK, here I go." He looked over to his other two friends; one slightly shorter female with mid-length, large ringlet hair called Phina and a taller male with short black hair called Evan.

Phina's clutched hands trembled as she stepped forward. "You don't have to do this Jack, just make out with Evan, seriously, that place is haunted."

Jack laughed nervously and replied, "Dude, that's gross, no way. It's nothing, really. See you in five." With that, Jack sprinted up the two steps in front of him and bolted through the door.

Outside, Hannah stepped back to meet Evan and Phina. "Would you take that dare?" She asked, referring to Evan.

"No way would I do that." He chuckled and turned away with Hannah. Phina stood paralyzed, arms folded to protect her from the ice cold breeze, gaze frozen to the door.

Hannah stopped, turned her head to look at her friend and called, "Phina you coming? He said he'd be out in five."

"Yeah, sure." Phina slowly tore her gaze away from the old cottage and jogged a few steps to meet up to her friends.

Hannah and Evan were waiting by a small cluster of trees by the time Phina caught up.

"Took you long enough." Evan chuckled. He coughed and smoke filtered from his lips.

"Really Evan?" Phina stared at her friend, his eyes bloodshot and his face pale.

Evan passed the drug laced cigarette to Hannah. "Want to try?" Evan took the cigarette out of Hannah's hands as she blew out the smoke.

Hannah coughed slightly. "She can't, she's a good little daddy's girl," Hannah mocked.

"Shut up, just because I don't 'get high', doesn't mean I'm a daddy's girl." Phina looked at the ground. She was sitting on a small log, arms folded and shivering.

Evan dropped the cigarette to the floor and crushed it with his booted foot. He looked up at Phina who had a distance look in her eyes. "You cold?" She looked at him with her deep blue eyes and nodded.

"No wonder, all she's wearing is that thin summer dress." Hannah took out two cans of Budweiser and passed one to Evan.

"I didn't expect to be out in the freezing cold, did I?" Phina's voice sounded harsh and brittle.

"You ok Phina? Here, have my coat." Evan wrapped his black leather jacket around Phina's shoulders and sat beside her. "You sure everything's ok?"

Evan smiled sincerely and his eyes glowed as he smiled; Phina couldn't help but smile back wearily. "Yeah, just a little tired that's all."

Hannah stared angrily, Evan always liked Phina more. She would never like him back; she's too picky with her boyfriends. Hannah, however, would jump at the opportunity at being the centre of Evan's attention for once. She turned to her bag, grabbed a can and threw it towards Phina. It hit Phina's temple and created a small cut.

Phina held her hand to her head and frowned at Hannah "Ow! What was that for?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to hit you." She smiled apologetically and looked at Evan. He looked back, puzzled.

"You know she doesn't drink," Evan stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh my God! I totally forgot I'm so sorry Phina." She smiled again, but Phina remained frowning. When she moved her gaze away from Hannah, she searched her bag for a tissue.

Evan held out his own tissue. "Here, use this." Phina smiled and took it gracefully. She started wiping the blood from her face.

"What's taking Jack so long?" Phina asked, looking from Evan to Hannah, then back.

"Maybe we should go find him?" Evan shrugged and stood up. He held out a hand to Phina who took it wilfully. After pulling Phina to her feet, Evan then turned and helped Hannah up. Being two inches taller than Phina at five foot six, Evan didn't help Hannah as much as Phina. After all, Phina was the shorty of the group.

They had made their way to the front porch of the cottage. It looked exactly the same as they left it, except the door was slightly ajar from Jack's entrance.

"You think he's still inside?" Phina asked whilst looking up at Evan.

"One way to find out." Evan pulled out a flashlight from his red and white backpack. He pressed the 'on' button and headed inside, ushering the girls in after him. Both girls looked at each other, both scared and hurried after him.

The door opened to a small living room. The walls were damp and crusted and the floor was wet and mouldy. Three small settees, along with a small coffee table and a few cabinets were draped in white cloth. A large fireplace stood at the far wall, in between the settees.

The door creaked to a close as Phina stepped inside. She looked around, following the beam of the flashlight.

"Which door do we go through?" Hannah asked. On their right were three doors; two at each end of the wall and one in the middle. Evan walked to the middle door and opened it slowly. Inside was a couple of shelves with towels piled on top. Underneath the shelves were a couple of brushes and a dustpan.

Evan closed the door slowly and looked at the two girls. "Not this one, maybe we should split up."

"Sure, I'll go with you." Hannah smiled and stepped to Evan's side. Phina stood; arms clutched together, waiting by the door.

"Actually, Phina's coming with me. You're braver than her; you can take the first door." Hannah scowled at Phina before holding out her hand out to Evan. Evan quickly grabbed a flash light from his bag and handed it to Hannah, who then stormed through the door next to Phina.

Phina watched as the door closed behind Hannah and turned to see Evan holding out a flash light for her. "Here, take this in case we need to split up." Phina took the flash light and followed as Evan led them into the furthest door.

The door led to a small hallway. Three doors lined the left side, whilst two doors lined the right. A small door stood at the far end.

"You take the right and I'll take the left." Evan nodded at Phina and headed into the first door on his left. Phina opened the door on her right and stepped inside. The interior of the room was similar to that of the living room. The walls were covered in damp marks and the floor was covered in mould. She beamed her flash light over the contents of the room; a small bed, dresser and mirror.

Satisfied that Jack was not hiding, Phina left the room and headed for the second door. This door led to a small bathroom. Inside were a small toilet, bath and sink. Phina wiped her fingers over the bath's edge. She raised her fingers to find them black with dirt and dust. The spot she had wiped had become a sparkling white, compared to the grey, almost black surroundings. She scanned the room and left quickly.

Lastly was the door at the end of the hallway. Phina had no idea which room Evan was in and looking back, she couldn't see either. She sucked in a large breath, blew it out slowly and gripped the door handle. She could feel the dust under her hand as she turned it with a loud squeaking noise. The door slid open with a creak to display a set of stairs leading to a basement. Phina stared into the abyss before her, shining her flash light down into the black pit. The light only travelled a few steps, so she decided to brave the dark and walk down.

She took each step slowly as they creaked under her feet. She wasn't a heavy girl; sure, Hannah was thinner than her, but she was still toned and slim. She had better curves and a 'large rack' as Jack would say. She stopped a few steps from the bottom and scanned the room with her light. It was filled with shelves of books, fishing equipment and other random junk. She couldn't see anything worth searching, so she stepped down and looked around.

Behind the staircase was a large archway into another room. Phina moved slowly to the entrance, tripping over small objects as she walked. At the archway, Phina shone her flash light into the dark room. She walked in, but found no sign of Jack. Looking around, Phina noticed droplets of red on the ground. She was sure they weren't there a moment ago. Drops of liquid landed on Phina's forehead. She wiped her head and flashed her light over her hand. On her hand was a smear of red, _surely my blood from earlier?_ Fighting the urge to scream, Phina braced herself for the worse. She breathed deeply and exhaled slowly before shining her light to the ceiling.

Above her was a metal ceiling rack. Its hooks were covered in red liquid and laying on top was the body of a man. His eyes were wide and his mouth open in fear. Blood trickled from his mouth, down the hooks and eventually falling to the floor. On his throat was a large gash and his abdomen was ripped open, intestines hanging out.

Phina stared, wide-eyed and mouth open, in fear. The dark shaggy hair and green eyes were all too familiar, _Jack._ Phina breathed in deeply and let out a ear-piercing scream.

Dean sat quietly in the Impala. AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' was playing on the stereo and Dean was air drumming along. He waited patiently for his brother to return from the gas 'n' sip they had stopped at to refill the Impala. Dean loved his car, but it sure did cost a lot to refuel. _Thank God for fake credit cards, _Dean chuckled with the thought.

The shotgun's side door opened and quickly shut close. Sam sat in the previously empty seat, holding a brown paper bag. He pulled out a cup of coffee and a salad box. Dean stared patiently at his brother.

Sam looked at Dean with questioning eyes. "What?"

Dean held out his hand and smiled. "Pie." Dean gestured a 'hurry up' motion with his shoulders then slouched back in his seat. "You forgot the pie?"

Sam placed the bag in the back seat and sat back, looking at his brother with apologetic eyes. "Sorry." Dean shook his head and started the Impala. The purr of the engine made Dean grin as he shifted the gears.

"Any more news on the cottage?" Dean asked, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

"Not much, nobody ever saw the killer, just saw their victims."

"What we thinking, ghost?" Dean shot a glance at his brother who was staring intently into his laptop screen.

"Likely, I'll look into past owners and see what I can find." Sam shot a smile at his brother, but kept his gaze on the laptop.

"Dude, how are you even working that thing? They got Wi-Fi in the middle of the interstate?"

Sam chuckled. "No, I copied the information from the sites onto a document in case I needed to read them over once more." Dean nodded and pressed his foot harder on the gas pedal.

When they arrived at Riverview, they drove to the nearest motel, checked in and headed to their room.

"Where do we start?" Sam placed his laptop on the small, circular table and sat down. The room they were staying in looked virtually the same as every other motel they ever stayed in. Basic wallpaper, beige carpet, two queen sized beds and a dining table. The unusual difference being no television, but Sam doubted they'd use it anyway.

Dean laid back on the bed and covered his eyes with his arms. "It's noon so how about we check the statements and then head to see the body?"

"Sure." Sam stood up, closed his laptop and headed to the bathroom. "I'll get changed."

Dean groaned and sat up. "Same, just give me a sec." Once dressed in their FBI suits, they grabbed their fake badges and headed for the Impala.

The town of Riverview was fairly small; a small and short High Street with a couple of streets surrounding it. The police station was based at the end of the High Street. It's white and black exterior reminded Dean of every other station they visited.

The interior, however, was quite different to the others. The walls looked old and there were multiple cracks from ceiling to floor. The desks were made of old oak and the jail cells were visible from the entrance. There were a couple of doors on either side of the room, including one that led to a small hallway.

Dean glanced around at the old building; it reminded him slightly of the time he and Sam visited 1861 to kill a Phoenix. This building, however, was slightly more modern, but just a tad.

Dean and Sam stopped and stood at a small desk at the front of the room. A young woman who looked in her mid-twenties with blonde hair sat, reading a Cosmo magazine. She had a short, pink dress on and her lipstick was bright pink. Her eyes were covered in black mascara and eyeliner.

Dean coughed and held out his badge. Sam did the same. "Agents DeYoung and Shaw, we're here about the recent murders."

The woman looked up at the brothers and sighed. "Which one? There's been six you know." Her voice was weary and eyes looked miserable.

"Wait, there's been another one?" Sam looked shocked and gave Dean an apologetic shrug.

"Yeah, last night in fact."

At that moment, an older man around his fifties walked to the side of the desk. He wore a grey suit and a badge that showed he was the Chief of Police. "That's quite enough Hannah; you're not even supposed to be working today." He turned and held out his hand, taking turns to shake the brothers' hands. "I'm Eric Thompson, Chief of Police, you are?"

Sam held up his FBI badge and Dean followed. "Agents DeYoung and Shaw, here about the recent murders."

"I thought there had only been five murders?" Dean added.

The Chief looked down at Hannah with a sad smile. "No, another one last night," He looked up at the agents. "Didn't you get the email?"

Sam and Dean shared a look before smiling. "No," Sam stated. "Server's been down. Can we talk somewhere private?"

The Chief tapped Hannah's shoulder and ushered the men to an office to his right. "This is my office."

Inside the office was a small mahogany desk, a black chair, one computer, two bookcases, a file cabinet and two red leather chairs. This room was a lot more modernised than the recent room. The Chief sat on the black chair and Dean and Sam sat on the red leather seats opposite.

"Before we start," Dean began. "What's up with this building? Looks kinda old." Sam gave Dean a scolding look before smiling apologetically at the Chief.

The Chief chuckled. "This is a small town, many of these buildings have been here since it was founded in the 1800s and we haven't got the expenses to be building new ones. We fixed the exterior of the buildings, but much of the interior remains the same."

"Right." Dean looked at Sam, shrugged and was returned with a glare.

"So, about these murders?" Sam smiled.

The Chief coughed and sat up. "Yes, right. Well, loads of teens and drunken idiots go to the cottage to see if they can see ghosts. It's said to be haunted, but I don't believe that rubbish. Anyway, last week a group of teenagers go up the cottage for a dare. Six go on, one comes out. Our witness, Tony Wearing, says he saw nothing."

Sam asked, "So this guy, Tony, how old is he?"

"Tony, well he's seventeen."

Dean sat forward. "And the vics?"

Chief Thompson eyed the men suspiciously. "The group last week consisted of Laura Tamplin, Harry Barnes, Jesse Harris, Kieran Cloud and Enrique Romero; all seventeen. Last night was only Jack Barnes, a twenty-three year old."

Sam leaned forward, hands clutched together on his lap. "Wait, two vics had the same last name?"

"Yep, they were cousins."

Dean chuckled. "Geez, you'd think after one death, let alone five, they'd stay away."

"Especially if it's your cousin," Sam added.

"I guess, but teenagers these days."

"But Jack Barnes was twenty-three, you said, why would he go there?" Sam asked.

"He and a group of mates, you've met Hannah outside, they were hanging out and Jack suggested they play dares. Evan, another witness, dared him to go steal something from the cottage basement."

Dean leaned back. "How many witnesses altogether?"

"Four altogether, three from the last murder."

"Thanks Chief." Sam stood and Dean followed.

"Look, boys," The Chief began. "This is a quiet town. What's happened is a huge loss, but I don't need the locals panicking, if you get what I mean?" He looked sad and Sam nodded in reply.

Outside the office, Hannah was still reading at her desk. The agents walked to her and coughed.

"Anything else I could help you with?" She put on a fake smile, but Sam could see through it; he could see the misery.

"Just a few questions," Sam began and noticed Hannah's fake smile fade. "Last night, can you just tell us what happened?"

"I've told the Chief everything I know, but ok." She sat up straight and placed the magazine on the desk. She didn't raise her eyes from her tangled hands. "Me, Evan and Phina were staying over Jack's for a few drinks. Phina doesn't drink but she still wanted to come along. Anyway, we were playing truth or dare and Jack went first. He chose dare and Evan dared him to steal something from the basement of the old cottage on Mourner's Hill-"

"Mourner's Hill?" Dean interrupted.

"Yeah, it's what the locals call it. People say they hear a woman's crying at one of the trees on the hill. They say she lived in the cottage when the town was built and lost her son to a wolf attack on the hill. She was supposed to have killed herself in that cottage and ever since has been mourning the death of her son."

Hannah paused and her eyes looked distant. Sam spoke, "Carry on."

"Right, well, he could either steal something or make out with Evan. It took him a while to decide because of his cousin and all, but he decided making out with a boy was too gross, so we all walked to the cottage. Me, Evan and Phina waited by a group of trees for a while, but when we started to worry we went to look for Jack. We split up, me on my own and Evan with Phina. He said it was because I was braver than Phina, she's the baby of the group in every way-"

"Baby of the group?" Sam asked.

"Well, Evan and Jack are both, were both twenty-three, I'm twenty-two, but Phina's twenty-one. She's also the shortest, she's five foot four and I'm five foot six-"

Dean held up his hand. "We get it, carry on."

"Well, I think Evan has a crush on Phina so he wanted to make his move when we split up. Obviously that didn't happen because after a few minutes I heard Phina screaming. At first I thought Evan had done something to her, so I ran and found Evan alone. We both found Phina in the basement, standing under a metal ceiling rack. She had blood on her forehead and it took me a while to figure out why that scared her. That was until I looked up and saw Jack on the rack, throat cut and intestines hanging out." Tears sprung to Hannah's eyes.

"How come it took you so long to figure out why Phina screamed? Surely blood on her forehead was enough," Dean insisted.

"Actually, earlier on Evan gave Phina his jacket and was being really sweet to her. I got a bit jealous and threw a Budweiser can at her. It hit her head and cut her."

"I thought you said she doesn't drink?"

"She doesn't, I pretended I forgot. I know they didn't believe me." She looked up at Dean with pitiful eyes.

"Well, thanks for your time and sorry for your loss. Do you know where we can find Evan and Phina?" Sam smiled at the weeping woman.

"Yeah, they both work at Barry's Bowlarama."

"Thanks," Dean said before heading for the door. Sam followed.


End file.
